The enduring images of the 2000s

July 19, 2018|

Iraqi civilians watch US troops pull down a statue of Saddam Hussein in downtown Baghdad in April 2003. Weeks earlier, coalition forces began military action against Saddam’s regime in Iraq. Jerome Delay/AP

A disputed US presidential election, the 9/11 terror ******, technological advancements such as smartphones and social media: all of these defined the first 10 years of the new millennium.

For more on the decade, watch “The 2000s,” a CNN original series that airs Sunday nights at 9 p.m.

US President Bill Clinton, left, shakes hands with Vice President Al Gore before his final State of the Union address in January 2000. Clinton’s second term was just about up. Stephen Jaffe/AFP/Getty Images

Singer Jennifer Lopez turned heads at the Grammy Awards with this low-cut Versace dress in February 2000. The revealing outfit was so popular that it spurred Google to invent a search tool for online images. Kirby Lee/WireImage/Getty Images

Federal agents enter a home in Miami to take young Cuban refugee Elian Gonzalez in April 2000. The 6-year-old’s immigration case had become an international flashpoint after he was rescued off the Florida coast in late 1999. His father fought to bring him back to Cuba, but Elian’s relatives in Miami refused to hand the boy over when US immigration officials ruled in the father’s favor. Elian was hiding in a closet with Donato Dalrymple when this photo was taken. Alan Diaz/AP

Flames trail Air France Flight 4590 before it crashed into a Paris hotel in July 2000, killing 100 passengers, nine crew members and four people on the ground. An investigation later revealed that the Concorde jet struck a small strip of titanium and blew a tire during takeoff. The blown tire scattered debris into the left wing and ruptured the fuel tank. Toshihiko Sato/AP

In this photo taken with a strip camera, American sprinter Marion Jones blows away the field as she wins the 100 meters at the 2000 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece. Jones won three gold medals at the Games but later had them taken away from her when she admitted to steroid use. Bill Frakes and David Callow/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright meets with North Korean leader Kim Jong Il in October 2000. Albright was the highest-level US official to visit North Korea in 50 years. David Guttenfelder/AP

A disputed ballot is examined in Florida’s Broward County after the US presidential election in November 2000. A machine recount had earlier confirmed that George W. Bush had narrowly won Florida — and the crucial electoral votes that made him the winner. But the Florida Supreme Court called for a manual recount in which many ballots were reviewed for “hanging chads” and “pregnant chads” — instances when a voter may have meant to punch a hole in the paper ballot but wasn’t fully successful. The hand recount was eventually called off by the US Supreme Court and Bush was ruled the winner. Alan Diaz/AP

The International Space Station orbits Earth in December 2000. The first resident crew members had arrived a month earlier, and they stayed until March 2001. Since then, the space station has always been manned. NASA/Getty Images

United Airlines Flight 175 approaches the south tower of New York’s World Trade Center before crashing into it on September 11, 2001. Just minutes earlier, American Airlines Flight 11 had hit the north tower. The commercial planes were hijacked by terrorists in an ****** orchestrated by al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden. Another plane struck the Pentagon in Washington, and a fourth crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. A total of 2,977 people were killed. Kelly Guenther/The New York Times/Redux

A Tomahawk cruise missile is launched from a US ship in the Arabian Sea in October 2001. In the wake of the 9/11 attacks, the United States began airstrikes in Afghanistan, targeting al Qaeda and the Taliban regime that had been giving al Qaeda protection. Ruben Sprich/Reuters/Newscom

Osama bin Laden gives a statement on a pre-recorded video aired by Al Jazeera television in October 2001. In his speech, bin Laden praised God for the 9/11 attacks. Al Jazeera TV/Getty Images

A hazmat team waits outside a post office in Ewing, New Jersey, in October 2001. A worker at the facility had been exposed to anthrax spores. Five people were killed and 17 were sickened during anthrax attacks in the fall of 2001. The spores were in anonymous letters sent to various news organizations and Senate Democratic leaders. The FBI concluded its investigation in 2010 and determined that the letters originated from Dr. Bruce Ivins, a biodefense researcher who committed suicide in 2008. Daniel Hulshizer/AP

The New England Patriots, led by second-year quarterback Tom Brady, upset the heavily favored St. Louis Rams to win the Super Bowl in February 2002. Brady and the Patriots went on to win three Super Bowls in four years (2002, 2004 and 2005). They later added titles in 2015 and 2017. No starting quarterback in NFL history has won more Super Bowls than Brady. Jim Davis/The Boston Globe/Getty Images

Halle Berry cries as she accepts the best actress Oscar in March 2002. Berry, who was recognized for her role in “Monster’s Ball,” became the first African-American to win best actress. “This moment is so much bigger than me,” she said in her speech. “This moment is for Dorothy Dandridge, Lena Horne, Diahann Carroll. It’s for the women that stand beside me, Jada Pinkett, Angela Bassett, Vivica Fox. And it’s for every nameless, faceless woman of color that now has a chance because this door tonight has been opened.” Kevork Djansezian/AP

Recognize this face? A 13-year-old Taylor Swift sings the National Anthem before an NBA game in Philadelphia in April 2002. Jesse D. Garrabrant/NBAE/Getty Images

Venus Williams, left, and her younger sister, Serena, wave to the crowd after winning the Wimbledon doubles title in June 2002. The two dominated women’s tennis during the decade, with Serena winning 10 Grand Slam singles titles and Venus winning seven. They also won eight Grand Slam doubles titles during those 10 years. Jeff J. Mitchell/Reuters/Newscom

Kelly Clarkson sings “A Moment Like This” after winning the first season of “American Idol” in September 2002. The singing competition became a TV sensation, and it finished first in the Nielsen ratings every year from 2005 to 2011. Fred Prouser/Reuters/Newscom

Pop star Michael Jackson briefly dangles his infant son, Prince, over a fourth-story hotel balcony as he greets fans in Berlin in November 2002. Jackson later apologized, saying he had made a “terrible mistake.” Tobias Schwarz/Reuters/Newscom

Debris from the space shuttle Columbia streaks across the sky over Tyler, Texas, in February 2003. The shuttle broke up while returning to Earth, and all seven crew members were killed. An investigation determined that the cause of the accident was a piece of insulating foam that broke off and struck a hole in the leading edge of the left wing less than two minutes into the shuttle’s flight. Dr. Scott Lieberman/AP

During ballet lessons, children in Hong Kong wear masks to protect themselves from SARS, a viral respiratory illness that killed 774 people worldwide between November 2002 and July 2003. Since 2004, there have been no known cases of SARS, which stands for severe acute respiratory syndrome. Vincent Yu/AP

US President George W. Bush addresses the nation aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, an aircraft carrier that had just returned home from Iraq in May 2003. The “Mission Accomplished” banner was heavily scrutinized, as the war in Iraq was still far from over. Years later, Bush said he wished he had not spoken in front of the banner. “It was a sign aimed at the sailors on the ship, but it conveyed a broader knowledge,” he said in 2008. “To some it said, well, Bush thinks the war in Iraq is over, when I didn’t think that. But nonetheless, it conveyed the wrong message.” J. Scott Applewhite/AP

Beyonce and Jay-Z film the music video for their 2003 song “Crazy in Love,” which was on Beyonce’s debut solo album. It won Grammy Awards for best R&B song and best rap/sung collaboration. The couple married in 2008. Both are among the best-selling musical artists of the 21st century, and they’ve collected more than 30 Grammys between them. From Daniel Moss/Beyonce.com

Joseph Duo, a militia commander loyal to the Liberian government, celebrates after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces in Monrovia, Liberia, in July 2003. Liberian rebels, aided by the US military and UN peacekeepers, were fighting to remove President Charles Taylor from office. Taylor relinquished his office in August of that year. Over the country’s 14-year civil war, more than 250,000 people died and more than 1.3 million were displaced, according to a UN report. Chris Hondros/Getty Images

An Iraqi-American translator named Samir pins Saddam Hussein to the ground as the former Iraqi leader was captured by US Special Forces in Tikrit, Iraq, in December 2003. Saddam was hiding in a spider hole. Samir later met US President George W. Bush and showed him this picture: “I told him, ‘Sir, this is me on Saddam.’ And he said he saw it. He saw the picture.” Saddam was hanged in December 2006 after an Iraqi tribunal convicted him for his role in the 1982 Dujail massacre. More than 140 Iraqis had been killed in the village after a failed assassination attempt against him. US Army

Future US President Donald Trump is photographed at his Mar-a-Lago club in Palm Beach, Florida, in 2004. January saw the premiere of “The Apprentice,” a reality TV show that featured aspiring entrepreneurs competing for Trump’s approval. Jason Bell/Camera Press/Redux

At the end of the Super Bowl halftime show in February 2004, Justin Timberlake tore off part of Janet Jackson’s costume, exposing her right breast and a pasty over her nipple. It happened as Timberlake sang the line, “I’m gonna have you naked by the end of this song.” The “wardrobe malfunction” sparked outrage and an FCC crackdown on indecency. David Phillip/AP

Nearly 10,000 galaxies are seen by the Hubble Space Telescope in this composite photograph released by NASA in March 2004. It was the deepest look at the universe yet. NASA

A hooded detainee in US custody stands on a box with electrical wires hooked up to his fingers at the Abu Ghraib prison in Baghdad, Iraq. The image became a symbol of the Abu Ghraib abuse scandal after it was released, among other photographs, in April 2004. The photos did what a written report could not do, showing front-and-center what human-rights groups had been saying for months: that prisoners were being abused at the hands of US troops. AP

Mark Zuckerberg, left, and Chris Hughes — two of the creators of the social-networking site Facebook — work on computers outside a Harvard University house in May 2004. They launched the site for the Harvard campus in February 2004 and spread it to other Ivy League schools before eventually allowing anyone to register. As of December 2017, Facebook had more than 2 billion active users around the world. Rick Friedman/Corbis/Getty Images

Julie and Hillary Goodridge are accompanied by their 8-year-old daughter, Annie, as they apply for a marriage license at Boston’s City Hall in May 2004. Massachusetts became the first US state to legally sanction same-*** marriage. Jessica Rinaldi/Reuters/Newscom

The Boston Red Sox celebrate after winning the World Series in October 2004. It was the franchise’s first title in 86 years, and it effectively ended the “Curse of the Bambino,” which some claim started after the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees in 1919. Mike Ehrmann/WireImage/Getty Images

They called him the “Marlboro Marine.” Los Angeles Times photographer Luis Sinco took this iconic photo of Lance Cpl. James Blake Miller, a US Marine who was among those fighting insurgents in Falluja, Iraq, in November 2004. Sinco was embedded with Miller’s unit as it mounted an assault. “His expression caught my eye,” Sinco wrote. “To me, it said: terrified, exhausted and glad just to be alive. I recognized that look because that’s how I felt too.” Luis Sinco/Los Angeles Times/Getty Images

A woman in Cuddalore, India, mourns a relative who was killed in a tsunami that happened after the most powerful earthquake in more than 40 years struck the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, in December 2004. The quake triggered massive tsunamis that obliterated cities, seaside communities and holiday resorts, killing tens of thousands of people in the region. Arko Datta/Reuters/Newscom

Television personality Martha Stewart, America’s first self-made female billionaire, boards a private airplane after being released from prison in Alderson, West Virginia, in March 2005. She served five months for lying and obstructing justice in a 2001 stock sale. The poncho she was wearing had been knitted for her by a fellow inmate. Stephan Savoia/AP

US President George W. Bush, left, joins his wife, father and former President Bill Clinton as they pay their respects to the late Pope John Paul II in April 2005. The Pope, who in 1978 became the first non-Italian Pope in 455 years, died at the age of 84. Danilo Schiavella/Pool/AP

Tiger Woods reacts after winning the Masters golf tournament in 2005. Woods dominated the decade, winning 12 of his 14 career majors. His last major win was the US Open in 2008. Amy Sancetta/AP

Paul Dadge helps injured passenger Davinia Turrell away from a subway station after ********* attacks in London on July 7, 2005. A series of suicide bombings — three on the London Underground and one on a double-decker bus — killed 52 people and injured more than 700. Jane Mingay/AP

The fingers of Alassa Galisou, a malnourished 1-year-old, press against the lips of his mother, Fatou Ousseini, at an emergency feeding center in Tahoua, Niger, in January 2005. Drought and a particularly heavy plague of locusts had destroyed the previous year’s harvest, leaving millions of people severely short of food. Finbarr O’Reilly/Reuters/Newscom

New Orleans residents make a desperate plea for help as they wait to be rescued from the roof of an apartment complex in September 2005. Most of the city was underwater after levees and flood walls failed in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast in late August. More than 1,800 people were killed in five states, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. David J. Phillip/Pool/AP

A Jewish settler challenges Israeli security officers during clashes that erupted in February 2006 when authorities cleared Amona, an illegal Israeli outpost in the West Bank. More than 200 people were hurt. Oded Balilty/AP

YouTube co-founders Chad Hurley, left, and Steven Chen pose with their laptops at an office in San Mateo, California, in March 2006. Their video-sharing website, started in 2005, was bought by Google for $1.65 billion in stock. Tony Avelar/AP

US President George W. Bush hands back a crying baby that was handed to him in Trinwillershagen, Germany, in July 2006. Bush was there for an outdoor dinner with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Jim Bourg/Reuters/Newscom

Apple CEO Steve Jobs introduces the iPhone at a conference in San Francisco in January 2007. The revolutionary touch-screen device allowed users to make calls, surf the Web, take photos and play music. Over the next decade, Apple would sell a billion iPhones. David Paul Morris/Getty Images

Pop star Britney Spears, with a newly shaved head, attacks a paparazzo’s car with an umbrella outside the home of her ex, Kevin Federline, in February 2007. It was a troubled year for the singer, who spent time in rehab and lost custody of her children. In January 2008 she was hospitalized twice, and the next month a court gave her father conservatorship to her affairs after she was deemed unable to take care of herself. MBF-AlphaX/X17online.com

Injured Virginia Tech student Kevin Sterne is carried to safety by law enforcement officials after Seung-Hui Cho, a senior at the university, went on a shooting rampage there on April 16, 2007. Cho killed 32 people before taking his own life. At the time, it was the deadliest mass shooting in modern US history. Alan Kim/The Roanoke Times/AP

The first episode of the reality TV show “Keeping Up with the Kardashians” aired in 2007. The show followed the lives of the Jenner-Kardashian family in Los Angeles. John Russo/Corbis/Getty Images

“Harry Potter” fans take a steam train from Sydney Central Station to a secret location for the much anticipated unveiling of the book series’ seventh and final installment in July 2007. “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” sold an estimated 8.3 million copies on its first day. It was a new record for the book industry. Lisa Maree Williams/Getty Images

Conservation rangers work with locals to carry away the bodies of four mountain gorillas that had been mysteriously executed in Congo’s Virunga National Park in July 2007. The case was never solved. Brent Stirton/Edit by Getty Images

US Army Spc. Brandon Olson sinks onto a bunker embankment in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in September 2007. The Korengal Valley was the site of some of the deadliest combat in the region. Tim Hetherington/Magnum Photos

Photographer Kenji Nagai was covering anti-government demonstrations in Yangon, Myanmar, when he was shot during the government’s crackdown in September 2007. The 50-year-old later died from his wounds. Adrees Latif/Reuters/Newscom

Rescue workers line up to leave as authorities prepare to destroy earthquake-damaged buildings in China’s Sichuan province. A magnitude 7.9 earthquake hit central China in May 2008. It was estimated that more than 87,000 people were killed. David Guttenfelder/AP

US swimmer Michael Phelps, left, edges Serbia’s Milorad Cavic by one-hundredth of a second to win the 100-meter butterfly at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. It was his eighth gold medal, breaking Mark Spitz’s record for most golds in one Olympics. Heinz Kluetmeier/Sports Illustrated/Getty Images

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt celebrates after winning the 200 meters at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. He also won gold in the 100 meters, and he won both races in world-record time. Dylan Martinez/Reuters/Newscom

Protesters hold signs behind Richard Fuld, the former CEO of Lehman Brothers, as he prepares to testify to the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in October 2008. Lehman Brothers, one of the United States’ oldest investment banks, filed for bankruptcy after losing bad bets on both the housing and commercial real-estate markets. Lehman Brothers’ collapse unleashed a crisis of confidence that threw markets into turmoil worldwide and sparked the worst financial downturn since the Great Depression. Jonathan Erns/Reuters/Newscom

Airline passengers wait to be rescued on the wings of a US Airways jet that had to make an emergency landing in New York’s Hudson River in January 2009. The pilot, Chesley B. “Sully” Sullenberger III, was hailed as a hero after safely landing the plane, which hit a flock of birds shortly after takeoff and lost engine power. Steven Day/AP

US President-elect Barack Obama waits backstage before taking the oath of office at his inauguration in January 2009. Obama was about to become the first African-American President in US history. Callie Shell/Aurora

A team from the USS Boxer tows a lifeboat after the successful rescue of Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama, in April 2009. The American container ship had been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Somalia, and Phillips was kidnapped. The region had been experiencing an upsurge in piracy since 2008. Phillips’ rescue was later made into a feature film that was nominated for six Academy Awards, including best picture. Mass Communication Specialist 2nd Class Jon Rasmussen/US Navy

US soldiers take defensive positions after taking fire from Taliban positions in Afghanistan’s Korengal Valley in May 2009. Spc. Zachary Boyd was still in his “I love NY” boxers because he rushed from his sleeping quarters to join his fellow platoon members. David Guttenfelder/AP

Soldiers attend a memorial service for the 13 people who were killed in a shooting rampage at Texas’ Fort Hood in November 2009. Thirty-two others were injured in the ******. In 2013, a military jury convicted the shooter, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan, and sentenced him to *****. Nicole Bengiveno/The New York Times/Redux